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As of last November Minecraft on PC and Mac had somewhere in the region of 16 million registered users and that is a number which continues to grow. Now the Minecraft phenomenon has come to the Xbox live Arcade (1600 MS Points), giving even more people the chance to enter randomly generated worlds from the comfort of their couch and according to the latest leader board information over half a million people are doing just that.

Asides from being slightly stripped down this new version of the game does not deviate from the core game play mechanics of its PC counterpart in any way, you break blocks, you place blocks, you gather resources and you craft them into items, it’s all very familiar. This version is however bringing a lot of new features to the table including a streamlined crafting system (no more trawling through the wiki), local coop play (providing you have a HD TV), a silky smooth single player frame rate of about 60 frames per second (this can drop slightly during multiplayer but nothing too significant) and of course a control system designed with the controller in mind.

Another important addition here is the tutorial mode where new players are given a quick rundown of how the game is played, what the hazards are and how you can survive them. While it is not essential for experienced players it does give you a chance to familiarise yourself with the control system as well as giving you an idea of what sort of structures and tools it is possible to create.

There are other notable differences in this version of the game, though these will vary in importance depending upon an individual’s familiarity with the original version. Veterans for example will notice how this is not the ‘final’ build of Minecraft that they play on PC, it is in fact akin to the beta 1.6.6 which does not feature things like sprinting, the hunger bar, sticky pistons, stackable food etc, there is no creative mode either so you have to work for resources whether you like it or not.

The world size is also currently limited to 1024 by 1024 blocks which is hugely different to the effectively infinite world limits of the PC version (approx. 32,000,000 meters/blocks) though it is still pretty big. Many of these ‘missing’ features are expected to be introduced/fixed later in a fashion similar to the PC beta and alpha updates bringing the Xbox 360 version up to date with the PC version. Support for custom skins, texture packs and even mods are also rumoured to be in the works though there is no talk as yet of when these are going to go live.

In terms of gameplay Minecraft is pretty simple, in single player mode you are dropped into a randomly generated world (or one based on a ‘seed’) with nothing but a map in your inventory. It is up to you then to craft some tools and find shelter before nightfall when an assortment of nasty creatures will come looking for you. Light is hugely important to your safety in this game but don’t forget that Creepers are not limited to the darkness like other mobs. They will quite happily sneak up behind you while you mine, chop, fish or whatever and explode with enough force to kill you, sacrificing themselves to spite you. Of course the other mobs are quite capable of surviving during the day time cycle by hiding in the expansive cave systems and even occasionally under trees so stay alert!

The streamlined crafting system makes it far easier to create items with the only limit being whether or not you possess the appropriate materials for its creation. Some aficionados may feel this makes the game too easy but it does make up for the loss of precision that has resulted from the loss of the mouse as an input device. The control system overall is pretty strong however with the only limits being when swimming as you need your right thumb free to keep from drowning making steering yourself a little tough.

Local and online play is hugely fun with local play allowing for up to four people while online play allows for up to eight. However it is important to point out that online play but does not take place in perpetual worlds like those hosted on the online servers, instead the game is hosted by one player and when they log out the game closes for everyone. The world save file is held by the host which means that nobody else can play on it unless the host is playing on that map. There can also be some lag issues when playing online but these are pretty negligible. On the plus side this makes it far easier to get everyone to sleep at the same time allowing for the setting of spawn points.

All in all Minecraft is a hugely fun game whether it is played with friends or alone, and although the sometimes repetitive gameplay will not be suited to everyone. It must also be said that experienced players of the PC game may not be able to justify the expense of buying this unless they really like the idea of local multiplayer or want to have a bit more of a ‘vanilla’ experience. Newcomers however will probably find a lot to love here provided they bear in mind that Minecraft is a world where you get out what you put in.